Dipper and Mabel vs The Future: Alternate Ending
by flowerpower71
Summary: Title explains it all. After a simple mission to retrieve some alien glue gone horribly wrong, Ford is severly hurt and its up to his family to help. Include Stangst and family bonding.
1. Chapter 1

**So like the title says, this is an alternate ending to DAMVTF. This is the idea that I had originally thought was going to happen back when this episode premiered. Of coarse we ended up getting the freaking apocalypse instead. :'D**

But anyway, I decided that my original theory would at least make a decent fanfic so here we are. Enjoy!

 **Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch.**

 **Enjoy~!**

* * *

This was not supposed to happen. This was not how the mission was supposed to turn out.

Dipper Pines clung to the side of the zooming, silver colored space ship, praying that the magnet gun he had duct-taped to his hand would continue to hold. The wind roared in his ears and his brown hair fluttered all over the place as the spaceship zigged and zagged and ducked and spun and thrashed and did anything and everything it could to send the little boy flying from its side.

Dipper turned his head and looked over at the glass dome next to him where his Great Uncle Stanford lay unconscious after having been captured and, as of a few moments ago, knocked unconscious after being tossed around and hitting his head during the terrifying ride.

Time was running out. Any second now the space ship would be taking off to space, taking Ford with him. Dipper would be damned if he let that happen! He was not going to lose his family!

But how? Ford was trapped, he himself was struggling to not fall to his death and his knowledge of this type of technology was slim to none _at best!_

Still, he had to at least try something.

The boy fought against the winds and pulled himself up till he was able to reach the controls on the magnet gun. "Okay, lets try...magni-pulse!"

He turned the control and the gun began to glow. A blue, electric looking circle pulsated from the gun and traveled through the ship. The ship suddenly jolted and black smoke began to billow from the rear and Dipper screamed in fear as he felt the ship begin to fall.

The boy could only watch as the Gravity Falls forest began to rush closer and closer into his view. Full grown trees were ripped from the ground and tossed about as if they were rag dolls and the ship jolted asit crashed to the ground and skidded through the dirt, leaving a trail and throwing Dipper off in the process. A sharp pain wracked itself through his skull as he hit the ground and then everything went black.

Pain. All he felt was pain in every single inch of his body. Every muscle screamed, every bone ached and his head pounded in his skull with a horrible headache.

A low but pained groan escaped Dipper's throat as he slowly opened his brown eyes and was greeted by the bright blue sky. At first the boy just laid there for a few seconds not wanting to move. But then the memory of what just occurred, along with the realization that his uncle was still trapped on the ship.

In an instant, Dipper forgot about his pain and he lept to his feet, running as fast as his injured body allowed him to, to get to his uncle. Dipper's heart stopped and dropped down to his stomach as he got closer to the ship. He could see the dome prison his uncle was trapped in.

Trapped in...and not moving.

"Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no, no, no!" the tween chanted as he finally reached the ship. He pounded his fist onto the glass before he noticed a slit right down the middle. He pushed against the sides of the slit and the dome opened with relative ease a she rushed inside to the old man.

Ford still lay unconscious. Bruised and scratches and dry blood marring every visible bit of skin and the sleeve of his beloved trench coat ripped, displaying a nasty looking scratch.

But it wasn't the injuries that scared Dipper the most. It was the fact that his Gruncle wasn't _Moving!_

He didn't expect Ford to be moving. The man got a very nasty konk on the head so of coarse he wouldn't be moving. But this was different. Not a finger twitched. Not an eye fluttered. He didn't even look like he was breathing!

He looked...He looked like he was...

Dipper shook his head of the horrible thoughts. He couldn't dwell on them now. Ford needed him! They had to get out of there!

"Come on! Wake up man!" Dipper begged, his voice sounding hysterical and desperate, as he grabbed Ford's hand and attempted to drag the body out of the dome. "We got to get out of here before-"

He froze hearing buzzing and clanging noises behind him and then once again, Dipper found himself frozen with fear. No...no, no, no it couldn't be!

The boy turned around and came face to face with the smoking security bot from the ship. Electric shocks jolted through the floating silver ball of death and Dipper felt his blood run cold once again.

This really was not his day.

The bot floated over getting uncomfortably close to Dipper and scanned him. Dipper quickly got to his feet and automatically stood protectively in front of his still unconscious uncle.

"Hey! Uh-I'm warning you! I got a magnet gun!" he declared, pointing the still duct-taped weapon at the circular robot.

The robot beeped and buzzed, detecting the threat. The top of the robot opened up and out came a giant laser gun which pointed itself right at Dipper, ready for the kill.

But Dipper stood his ground. He had come to far to give up now. He would not go down without a fight. Ford needed him. That was all that mattered.

"Oh yeah!? You think you can scare me?! Do your worst! Nothing in this universe is going to take away my uncle! So show me what you got!"

A moment passed. Then another. Sweat poured down Dipper's temple and he gritted his teeth, his finger on the finger of the magnet gun, ready to shoot. He wasn't going to die today. He was not going to be defeated by some floating metal ball! He was determined to live and get his uncle help! He was not going to go down line this!

Dipper blinked as the robot blinked and retracted the gun back inside itself. It beeped again, louder and frantically. The metal ball shook and smoke erupted from it once more as it self destructed and Dipper instantly felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"I...I-I did it..." he said between pants, a hand on his racing heart. A wide, proud smile pulled at his lips. "I did it! Haha! I actually did it! Great Uncle Ford I-" but the sentence died on his lips as he turned around and laid eyes on his still injured and too still for comfort Uncle.

As soon as it came, the relief he had felt was once again replaced with that sickening feeling of dread and fear. Dipper kneeled down next to the elderly man and watched him worriedly for any sign of life. His hands shook and he reached out, nervously placing two fingers on his uncles neck.

A pulse! Ford was still alive!

...But for how long?

The relief that Dipper had felt disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. The pulse was weak. It was weak and Ford was cut and bruised and possibly had something that was broken. Or internally bleeding?!

The brunette tween bent down and grabbed his uncle by the shoulder and then proceeded to shake it. "Great Uncle Ford! Come on! Wake up! W-We got to get you to a hospital!"

But he wouldn't budge. Not a groan. Not a twitch. Nothing. Dipper felt the cold grip of fear lace its cold unforgiving fingers around his heart. He switched from trying to awaken his elder to attempting to drag him instead. Dipper groaned and gritted his teeth as he attempted to drag his uncle. They only made it about three feet before Dipper was forced to stop to catch his breath.

It was no use. Ford was too heavy and it was a long way back to the Shack. That and the dragging could possibly make whatever injuries Ford had even worse.

He couldn't help him.

Dipper stubbornly squeezed his eyes shut and desperately fought back the tears that were forming.

He was scared.

He was alone.

Helpless.

The twelve, almost but not quite thirteen year old looked around for help he knew wasn't there. He looked back down at the old man. The man who had remained a mystery for most of the summer. The one who he had gotten to know at first through his private writings in his journals and then to know for real. He had to help him now but he couldn't do it alone.

"I'll be back. Just hang on!"

And with that, he dropped the hand and took off running into the woods, leaving the unconscious man alone in the woods.

* * *

 _"Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo~ Sewing a raccoons head onto a dead beaver's body~ Doo, doo doo~"_

The happy little, though slightly morbid tune, filtered through the desserted giftshop of the Mystery Shack at Stan stood behind the counter, sewing his newest attraction for the Mystery Shack.

"Alright. Just few more stitches and this should be good and ready for displa-OW!" Stanley yelped as he pricked his finger (for the fourth time) with his sewing needle. The old man looked down at his finger and frowned at the small bead of red that had began to form. He reached for the box of band-aids and struggled to work the bandage out of its paper wrapping when his attention was brought to the sound of the door opening. "Oh heya Mabel."

But the usually happy-go-lucky pre-teen girl was anything but.

Mabel's body sagged and her head was down low, staring at the floor as she walked right past her uncle, not bothering to return his greeting. Stan watched, frowning with worry as she disappeared around the corner and heard her make her way up to the attic.

"Oh boy." Stan mumbled, setting his hybrid bevcoon aside and rose from his kitchen table chair. He crossed the room to the fridge and reached in, pulling out a can of Pit Cola soda before heading up the stairs. Once there, he knocked on the door before opening it slightly and poking his head in. "Hey, everything alright, pumpkin?"

He found his great niece lying on the floor, her open scrapbook underneath her and Waddles sound asleep next to her. The old man opened the door fully and entered, sitting on the floor next to her.

"I just can't believe the summer's almost over." the brunette girl sighed, sadness in her voice. She sat up and looked down at her scrapbook, flipping a page. On the page was a picture of Wendy and the rest of her friends, along with Dipper and Mabel. Everybody was smiling for the camera and making peace signs. (Minus Robbie who was sulking, as usual) and now that I know how awful high school is going to be...I'm in no hurry to start that trainwreck."

"Ah." Stan said, realization dawning on him. He scooted closer to the twelve, soon to be thirteen year old, and threw an arm over her tiny shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "Nobody likes getting older. But just because you're growing up doesn't mean you have to _grow up,_ ya know? I mean, look at me. I'm pushing seventy and I still eat ice cream for dinner!"

This was the truth. In fact, he had done that exact thing last night because he was too lazy to cook. (And he just wanted ice cream for dinner)

"But I don't want to say goodbye to Gravity Falls." Mabel protested, leaning against her Grunkle, resting her head on his chest.

A sharp pain made it's way through Stan's heart. He had been dreading this day for awhile now. He didn't want them to say goodbye to Gravity Falls either. He didn't want to say goodbye to Dipper and Mabel. Now that Ford had disowned him, they were the only family he had left.

Not to mention the deal that he had made with Ford that night he first got back from the other deminsion. Once the twins had returned home, Stan was to pack up his stuff, give Ford back his house and name, and leave. Come the first of September, he would have no home and no family. He'd be all alone again.

The older man shook his head, forcing these thoughts to the back of his mind. His niece was sad and she needed him. "Well at least whatever happened this summer, you'll always have your brother through thick and thin." He said grinning widely before frowning again. "Not everyone can say that, ya know?"

They both jumped as they heard a loud bang as the door was flung open downstairs, followed by the sound of frantic running feet and a hysterical paniced voice.

"GRUNKLE STAN!? MABEL?! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Dipper?" Mabel raised her eyebrows in confusion and worry.

"Come on." Stan said as he jumped to his feet and the two of them hurried down the stairs. "Hey Dipper what's all the screaming abo-HOLY MOSES!"

The child looked like he had been through literally hell and back. His clothes were ripped, his hat was missing and bruises and cuts covered every visable inch of his body. His brown eyes were wide and filled with fear and panic, looking _slightly_ relieved when he spotted his family.

"Bro-Bro are you okay!?" Mabel gasped running down the rest of the stairs to her twin, starting to look over him.

"Dipper what the heck happened to ya?!" Stan demanded going over to the boy to inspect the damage.

Dipper's body shook along with his voice as he hurriedly tried to explain what had occurred. "M-Me and Great Uncle Ford were exploring this old alien space ship looking for some special glue to fix a crack in the rift! B-But we got attacked by this security robot pod thing and Ford got trapped and we crashed in the forest and I had a magnet gun and-"

"Whoa, whoa whoa, kid slow down!" the conman interrupted. "You're not making any sense."

Dipper mentally facepalmed himself. He had forgotten then neither Stan nor Mabel knew anything about the rift. "Never mind all that! The point is Great Uncle Ford is hurt!"

The world stopped and Stan felt his heart leap into his throat. "...He's what?!"

The young boy started to shake again and tears threatened to spill over his eyes. "H-He's hurt Grunkle Stan! He's hurt really bad! H-he's unconscious and he wont wake up! I-I think he's...I-I think he's..."

Stan felt sick to his stomach. No...No this was not happening! He just got his brother back! He couldn't lose him!

"Oh no..." he heard Mabel whimper and out of the corner of his eye he saw her looking just as terrified as he felt. "Grunkle Stan we have to help him!"

She was right. Even if they weren't on speaking terms at the moment, they were still family.

Quickly, the old con man got to his feet and ran to the kitchen to get his car keys. "Show us the way Dipper."

* * *

The old car zoomed through the town to the edge of the forest. Stan following Dipper's directions until they reached the edge of the woods. Stan immediately noticed some of the trees were knocked down but ignored that as he and the twins exited the car and ran into the woods on foot.

"He's over here!" Dipper exclaimed as he ran toward's a ditch made from the ship crashing and dragging into the ground.

Stan ran ahead, following where his nephew was pointing and looked in the ditch. His heart stopped and his eyes bulged seeing the state his twin brother was in. "O-Oh...O-h my gawd."

Mabel gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. Tears filled her brown eyes and she turned her head, not able to look at her beloved uncle.

"I-I tried to drag him back to the shack but-but he's too heavy and I couldn't g-get him out of the ditch." Dipper said quietly, sniffling and blinking back more tears. He had never felt so helpless in his life.

Stan said nothing. Forcing himself to snap out of it, he jumped down into the ditch and gently picked up his brother bridal style. He tried to not notice how limp his older brother was in his arms. He head lolling to the side.

"Come on. We have to get him to a hospital!"

So with the three of them working together, they managed to get Ford out of the ditch and Stan carried him back to the car. Once the unconscious scientist was laid in the back seat, the other three members of the Pines family squeezed in and off they went.

* * *

 **Part 2 will be out ASAP.**

 **Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day/afternoon/night wherever you are!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Whoo! Hey everyone! Sorry it took a little bit to get this next part out but here were go! The conclusion!**

 **Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch**

The plot and Dr. Dorian belong to me.

Enjoy~!

* * *

The red car zoomed crazily through the streets of Gravity Falls. Stan's foot pressed the pedal down until it touched the floor. The engine roared loudly in the Pines family's ears and people dove out of the way of the speeding vehicle to avoid being run over. Said people in return would shout obscenities at the car and in worse cases, give him a certain gesture which involves using a finger.

Stan paid no mind to any of them however. All his concentration was set on getting his twin to the hospital as fast as he could. "How's he holding up back there, Mabel?"

"He still wont wake up!" the braces wearing girl responded, her voice paniced as she looked at her unconscious grunkle laying next to her.

"There's the hospital!" Dipper suddenly exclaimed from the front passenger seat, pointing ahead through the windshield as their destination came into view. The younger twins felt their backs being pressed into the backs of their seats as Stan hit the gas once again.

A loud screech echoed through the air as Stan suddenly slammed onto the breaks. The force of the sudden stop so strong that is sent both Mabel and Dipper forward, causing their seatbelts to tighten around them.

"Come on, come on!" the conman ordered, throwing off his own seat belt and leaping out of the vehicle. The children following suit. Stan ran around to the back of the car and flung the door open, once again grabbing his brother bridal style in his arms and then ran inside the hospital doors. "We need a doctor here! My brother's been hurt!"

Immediately a small swarm of nurses ran over dragging a stretcher. The little medical crew being lead by a doctor, a woman in her early forties with shoulder length black hair and green eyes.

"Get him on the stretcher, get him to the ER and start checking his vitals! Stat!" the black haired doctor ordered. The nurses pulled the stretcher over and Stan helped them lay him down on the rolling bed. The conman felt a pain in his chest as he watched the nurses roll his twin out of the room and to the ER. The lady doctor stayed behind however.

"I'm Dr. Dorian," the doctor introduced herself. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Dipper suddenly took in a silent gasp of air. What were they supposed to say?! His uncle got abducted by an alien spaceship?!"

"He got hit by a car." Stan responded without missing a beat. A lifetime of lying sure comes in handy. "It was a hit and run. He was crossing the street and this car comes barreling out of nowhere and hit him and drove off."

"H-He hit his head too!" Dipper said trying to be helpful.

Dr. Dorian nodded as she took in the information. "Alright. If you'll wait in the waiting room I'll come back and let you know how he's doing once we get him stable." Her green eye's flicked to Dipper, taking in his bruised and haggard appearance. "Are you okay sweetie?"

"He uh, he was with my brother when the accident happened." Stan quickly put in, giving Dipper a look that said to play along.

"Y-Yeah! He pushed me out of the way!"

It wasn't a total lie. Ford did push him out of the way...it was only out of the way of a laser beam instead of a speeding car.

"I'd feel better if we had you examined as well, just to make sure there aren't any internal injuries." Dr. Dorian insisted. Dipper opened his mouth to protest only to be gently shoved foreward instead.

"Go on Kid." his uncle said.

"I wanna go with Dipper." Mabel said. If she couldn't be with her grunkle then she could at least be there for her brother.

Dr. Dorian nodded. "That's fine. Sheryl, please examin this boys injuries and make sure nothing is serious."

"Yes Doctor." a tan, blonde haired nurse wearing purple scrubs chirped as she ran over, took both twins by the hands and lead them off.

Stan watched with worry as his niece and nephew left, worried and praying that Dipper only has bumps, scrapes and bruises instead of something serious. His attention was brought back to his brother as he saw the woman doctor begin to leave. "Doc?"

She stopped, looking at the old conman. "Yes?"

"Please save my brother...he and those kids are the only family I got left."

The green eyed doctor nodded slowly. "We're doing everything we can." and with that she turned on her heel and rushed off in the direction the nurses had wheeled Ford and Stan found himself alone.

Stan looked down and felt his legs trembling as the reality of the situation finally hit him full force. He forced his legs to move and went to the nearest empty chair in the waiting room. He collapsed into it and rested his elbows on his knees, hiding his face in his hands.

"Please...Please be alright."

* * *

The first thing he was aware of, was the blackness. Next was the pain in his head followed by the pain in the rest of his body. Finally, he heard the low but constant beep of what he could only assume was a machine.

Stanford let out a low groan as he forced his eyes open, only to immediately shut them as his vision was assaulted by a bright white light. He slowly opened his eyes again and everything was blurry. He realized he was missing his glasses. His mind was foggy but he began to notice things. Such as that he had been attached to a bunch of tubes and he was laying in what felt like a bed. A low buzz coming from the unnaturally bright light shining above him.

Stanford's body suddenly stiffened and his brown eyes widened with horror as he remembered the events that lead him to this situation. The last memory being the town of Gravity Falls growing smaller and smaller as the space ship floated higher and higher into the sky, followed by a sharp pain in the back of his head just before everything went black.

He must have been taken aboard to the mother ship and was about to be experimented on by aliens!

He heard the heart rate on the monitor speed up as he slipped into a blind panic. Quickly, ignoring the pain in his aching joints, he kicked the blankets covering his body off of him and jackknifed into a sitting position. Reaching over, he found one of the tubes attached to his arm and was about to rip it off when a voice caught his attention.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hey! Cool it Sixer!"

The paniced scientist froze. That voice sounded familiar. He turned his head in the direction and squinted as the fuzzy black and red figure to his side. "...Stanley?"

"No. It's the Easter Bunny. Of coarse it's me!" the younger twin snapped.

Through his blurry vision, Ford could see his brother moving and felt something being slid into his hand. The paniced feeling he felt earlier starting to ebb away when he realized it was his glassed. He quickly unfolded them and slid them onto his face and, looking to his twin when his vision returned. "Stan, what's going on? Where are we?"

"Geez. And you're supposed to be the smart twin." the conman sneered, arms crossed and leaning back in the uncomfortable blue plastic chair which was sitting next to Ford's bed. "We're in a hospital."

A hospital. So he wasn't about to be dissected by alien's after all.

"How did I-" the scientist cut himself off with a horrified gasp as he suddenly remembered. "Dipper! Wh-where is Dipper?!"

"He's fine." Stan assured. "He's the one who went and got me. He lead us to where you were in a ditch in the woods and we brought you here. He and Mabel are out trying to find a vending machine to get some snacks."

Ford blinked. Once and then twice as he processed this new information and pieced it together with the events that landed him in the hospital in the first place.

"He...he did it..." A wide proud smile suddenly grew on the old man's lips and he let out a happy, triumphant laugh, only to wince a bit as it hurt his ribs. But the smile remained despite the pain. "He did it! He actually did it! He defeated the security pod!"

"Yeah, he did." Stan said, his brown eyes narrowing and his voice and overall demeanor suddenly growing colder. "Thing is though, he wouldn't have had to do that if you had kept your word and _stayed away from the kids like I said!"  
_  
Ford's pride suddenly disappeared, turning into disbelief. "Stanley you don't understand-"

"Oh I understand plenty!" the conman snarled. "Ford what the hell were you thinking?! I told you! I TOLD you to stay away from the kids! Now look what's happened! You nearly get both yourself AND Dipper killed!"

Stanford scowled, glaring at his younger twin. "Now you listen here, _I_ kept my word! I didn't go near the kids! Dipper came to me! And do you honestly think I would bring a kid along on a dangerous mission?!"

"I don't even know what to think anymore!" Stan exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't even know who you are anymore!"

"Everything in that ship was supposed to be dead!"

"Well obviously it wasn't!"

"Stanley you're missing the point! Dipper is special! He's-"

"He's TWELVE, Stanford!" Stan interrupted. "Yeah I know the kid's smart! Too smart for his own good! But he's still a kid! He's a child! He's a child who was so scared that his uncle was dead! A child who was in tears by the time he got to the shack to tell me what happened! A child who keeps asking every nurse and doctor how you are and when you would wake up! A child who just as easily could have died today like you almost did!"

The hospital room fell silent after that. The low hum of the light above and the heart monitor beeps being the only source of noise.

The scientist wanted to retort. He wanted to argue and prove to his brother that he was right. But his mind slipped back to the moments just before he was captured in the first place.

The security pod had come out from nowhere and Ford stood in front of his nephew to shield him from the alien robot. The old man barking orders at the boy, ordering him to not be afraid for the machine could detect fear.

But Dipper was afraid. He was so, so very much afraid. He wasn't used to going up against these kinds of dangers like Ford was used too. Of coarse he was afraid!

He remembered the look in Dipper's eyes as the spaceship took off with the both of them. It was a wild look of absolute terror and panic as he desperately clung to the ship to not fall to his death.

And even though he wasn't awake to see the look, he could only imagine the young boy's tearful, frightened face as he told his uncle and sister what had happened.

"I just..." Ford trailed off. He felt himself wince as his brother's continuous glare and he felt like a young child being scolded. He looked down at his odd numbered hands. "It wasn't supposed to turn out like this..."

"Well it did." the conman snapped.

"Stanley, I swear I thought it was safe." the scientist tried to defend himself. "Had I known-"

"You didn't know! That's the point!" the conman exploded. "I'm responsible for those kids! If something happened to them..." he trailed off and Stanford noted the crack in his brother's voice. Stanley took a shaky breath, trying to regain his composure. "Those kids are some of the most important people in my life. They saved me in more ways than one this summer."

Stanford remained quiet and watched his brother carefully. Stan's anger had disappeared and now looked his age. His brown eyes showed a sadness that made Stanford's heartache just a tiny bit. The younger twin let out a shaky breath and took off his glasses burying his face in his hands. The silence remained. "Stanley?"

"...You scared me Ford."

It came out as a whisper. A cracked whisper filled with emotion. A weight of guilt began to settle itself on Stanford's shoulders and the weight only grew more and more heavy as Stanley continued to speak.

"You scared me...You scared all of us. You...you were barely breathing and looked like hell and you were so. freaking. _still!"_

By this point, Stan finally removed his hands from his face. Ford was shocked to see his younger brother's eyes wet with unshed tears.

"I just got you back and I thought I had lost you again. For good this time..."

Another silence descended upon the hospital room. Once again the humming and beeping of the machines being the only sounds. Stanley looked down at his lap, resting his hands on his knees.

"I'm sorry."

Brown eyes flickered up, meeting brown. Stanford feeling his heart aching at the confession.

The stubborn old tourist trap owner crossed his arms and looked away. "Yeah, whatever. Just don't risk the kids lives again. They get into enough trouble on their own."

"No I mean..." the scientist trailed off and sighed. Words failing him. He laid back against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. "...When I was trapped in that pod...I thought about you."

Stanley perked up, looking at his twin. His still misty eyes looking surprised. "You...You did?"

The scientist nodded slowly. "My whole life had flashed before my eyes and you were always there, excluding the forty year gap, of coarse." Stanley flinched a bit at the mention of how much time had passed. "And I realized something."

Curiosity got the better of the conman. "What?"

"...I realized that I was about to lose you again, too."

Stanley felt his eyes widen again and he sat up straighter in his chair. He remained in stunned silence for about three more seconds before he remembered how words worked. "You...you did?"

Stanford nodded and turned his head to look at his twin. "I was about to lose you again and I had spent the past forty years being mad at you over a stupid scholarship...and I never would have gotten the chance to say I was sorry."

The conman blinked. His mouth hanging open slightly in shock. "...Boy you must have hit your head harder than we thought."

"I'm serious Stanley." the elder twin replied, his tone of voice matching his words. "It was stupid and petty of me to be angry at you for so many years...I just...For so many years I blamed you for knocking me into the portal. And then fixing the portal could have literally destroyed the world. I got angry that you ignored my warnings and risked so many peoples lives! And then when I saw you...all that anger from years ago and the new anger at you tampering with the portal...it all just hit me at once and I just...I had held onto it for so long I didn't know how to let it go..."

Stanley took a moment to gather his thoughts before responding. "...I blamed myself for knocking you into the portal too...I still do to be totally honest...and yeah, I read your warnings but if there was even a fraction of a chance of getting you back I was going to take it. Why do you think I spent the last thirty years trying to rebuild that stupid thing?"

Ford had known this fact all along but was to angry and sore over old memory wounds to stop and really think about it. His brilliant mind went into overdrive thinking the situation more clearly.

Stanley had hit lower than rock bottom the first time they had seen each other those thirty years ago.

He never finished highschool.

Stanford had already hidden the other two journals so for Lord only knows how many years, Stanley had to work with only the one. Which meant that he only had one third of the directions about the portal and its workings.

He taught himself the formula for tapping into the other deminsions.

And most of all, he never gave up.

Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year, after year, after year, after year, Stanley tirelessly worked on that portal. Never giving up and leaving Ford to fend for himself in the other deminsion forever.

And Ford repayed him for that dedication with a punch to the face...

Stanley reeled back in surprise and alarm. Stanford seemed to have zoned out and his body began to quiver and shake. Most alarming of all, the trail of fresh tears which were making their way down their brothers cheeks. The last time Stanley had seen his twin cry was when they were both in their early teen years, after a particular bad beat up from Ford's childhood bully Crampelter. "Whoa! Stanford what-"

He froze as his twin suddenly leaned over, or I should say, launched himself at his twin. Stan felt his eyes widen and his body tense up as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his body and two, six fingered hands rest themselves on his back, clenching at the black fabric of his signature tuxedo.

He was hugging him.

Stanford was hugging him!

His brother was hugging him!

"Thank you."

Two little words was all it took. Two little words and forty years worth of emotions came pouring out in the form of tears down the conmans face. Stanley returned the long awaited hug. wrapping his arms around his brother and the two of them sniffled and sobbed and apologized over top one another.

"I'm sorry I broke your stupid experiment! It was an accident I swear!"

"I'm sorry I didn't stand up for you when Dad kicked you out of the house!"

"I'm sorry I chickened out every time I tried to get in contact with you!"

"I'm sorry we got into that stupid fight!"

"I'm sorry I pushed you into the portal!"

"I'm sorry I punched you in the face when I walked out of the portal!"

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

The elderly twins remained in their tear filled hug for a long while. Neither of them wanting to be the first to pull away. Stanford was eventually the one to cave first, but only because of the awkward position he had twisted himself into in order to reach Stanley for the hug was starting to ache his already injured body even more. He smiled at his twin and sniffled, removing his glasses to wipe his eyes. "We're idiots, huh?"

"You can say that again." Stan laughed slightly, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "And a couple of cry babies too, apparently."

Stanford laughed and winced again. "D-Don't, don't make me laugh." he said both cringing and laughing. "It hurts."

"That would be the broken rib." Stan explained.

A moment passed. Both twins feeling as though a weight had suddenly been lifted off from them. They felt as they had when they were kids again.

"I'm glad to have you back, Sixer."

The scientist smiled sincerely. "I'm glad to have you back too Stanley."

"Ahem."

The old men turned their attention towards the door and were greeted with the grinning faces of their great niece and nephew. Mabel's eyes sparkled and her hands rested on her cheeks, her big smile taking up most of her face. Dipper meanwhile just gave his Grunkles a knowing smile and held the snacks he and Mabel had purchased in his arms.

"So...are you two okay now?"

"We're more than okay, kid." Stan said resting a hand on his brothers shoulders.

Mabel suddenly let out a loud, excited squeal. "Oh! Oh I just knew you two would make up eventually! Took you long enough!"

The Stan twins laughed and Stanford held out his arms towards the children. "Come here and give your great uncle a hug!"

The brunette twins were on him in a fraction of a second, hugging him gently to not aggravate his injuries.

"We're so glad you're alright Grunkle Ford." Mabel said, burying her face in the elder's shoulder.

"You scared the heck out of us, man." Dipper said.

"I know. I'm sorry." Stanford pulled out of the hug and looked at his nephew. He looked alright aside from a few scrapes and bruises. Dr. Dorian had given him a clean bill of health. "Dipper, I...You were amazing back there."

The boy blushed modestly and rubbed at the back of his head. "Well, you needed help. You would have done the same thing for me."

"I know, but still. You were truly brave back there. Without you, I wouldn't be here right now." the scientist placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder, smiling proudly. "Thank you."

Dipper's heart swelled and he smiled with pride. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Ah quit being so modest." Stan playfully scolded, removing Dipper's signature blue and white Pine tree hat and ruffling his hair.

"You're a hero Dipper!" Mabel cheered, hugging her brother.

Dipper chuckled, not used to all this praise. "Aw you guys."

The brunette girl released her brother from the hug. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I say that this calls for celebratory junk food!" she declared, pulling out various snacks from her backpack. Cheese Boodles, Burrito Bites, mini doughnuts, a package of gummy koalas and every type of candy imaginable.

* * *

The door to the hospital opened and Dr. Dorian stepped in, her green eyes glued to her clipboard. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped as she looked up from her clipboard and at the scene before her.

The entire Pine's family was crowded all around in Stanford's hospital bed. Dipper and Mabel on either side, Stan sitting in the chair but had his chest and the rest of his front half laying on the bed. One of his hands resting on his brothers leg. Stanford meanwhile had his arms wrapped around both of the children, hugging them protectively in his sleep, while one of his six fingered hands rested on Stanley's head. All around the foot of the bed and on the floor were various empty packages and wrappers of junk food and Mabel's mouth was covered in chocolate. The old men were snoring quite loudly while the children silently breathed in and out.

The woman smiled at the scene and grabbed the doorknob, slowly backing out of the room and shutting the door behind her.


End file.
